Dive boat operators face charges of illegally feeding sharks in state waters

[ScubaScottNYC]

And there you have it. No point in any further discussion in this forum.

Thank you for the good advice. It is truly pointless to discuss "just the facts ma'am" when that's clearly not the agenda of the moderator.

And as a final comment, I'll just point out that diverting the conversation by insulting anyone who doesn't agree with you is classic logical fallacy not worth answering.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

As I stated before, your mileage may vary when discussing safety on dive ops. I know people who are used to dive operations that do everything but hold your hand on the dive who would crap their shorts going on any Palm Beach County boat. We haven't heard you say how Randy is dangerous ... just that he's apparently a menace in your opinion. Facts, people. We want facts before going completely ape-doody on someone's reputation.

 

[captjohnr]

The sharks had become so aggressive she had to get out of the water....


The Florida Dive boat operators were trying to skirt the regulations. Read about the investigation that led to their arrests.


Ask law makers to throw the book a these lawbreakers. http://chn.ge/1nuVCDE

 

[The Chairman]

And as a final comment, I'll just point out that diverting the conversation by insulting anyone who doesn't agree with you is classic logical fallacy not worth answering.

Who was insulted? How? Just saying it happened doesn't make it so and disagreeing with someone is not an insult.

 

[Scubagolf]

Science should always triumph over BS and public hysteria. Reason should always triumph over the mob mentality no matter how noble you think the cause.

"Should", but don't count on it. Consider Germany, 1933-1945.

 

[vincent54]

I have read through the thread and realize the Florida Fish and Wildlife have confusing laws. They allow chumming and feeding of marine life if you harvest it. On the same page, it is illegal to feed while swimming with the animals.

There is no definition for the way the marine life is harvested, so why can't you chum and then spear? It then would become legal.

If they are that concerned for public safety, prohibit all feeding and chumming. Or is it a way to harass business owners and make it look like the Fish and Game are on the job?

The way I see it, the Fish and Game are putting a person out of business because a diver got scared from a fish. It's free publicity for Fish and Game.

 

[The Chairman]

I have read through the thread and realize the Florida Fish and Wildlife have confusing laws. They allow chumming and feeding of marine life if you harvest it. On the same page, it is illegal to feed while swimming with the animals.

There is no definition for the way the marine life is harvested, so why can't you chum and then spear? It then would become legal.

If they are that concerned for public safety, prohibit all feeding and chumming. Or is it a way to harass business owners and make it look like the Fish and Game are on the job?

The way I see it, the Fish and Game are putting a person out of business because a diver got scared from a fish. It's free publicity for Fish and Game.

I like a lot of what FWC does, especially when it comes to poaching. This does smack of a publicity stunt to me.

My son and I happened upon a guy feeding marshmallows to gators at a local lake. He offered to let us toss a couple and much to my son's chagrin, I declined for the both of us, citing it was against the law. "Oh, I'm not feeding Gators. I'm feeding fish." was his reply. Then he went on about his interaction with a local FWC officer who had tried to cite him for feeding Gators. Feeding fish is legal in the State of Florida and intent is important to so many of our laws. Laws should be simplified so that they are understandable and consistent. That's not the case here. Laws should also be based on science and not emotions. That's also not the case here.

 

[Splitlip]

As I stated before, your mileage may vary when discussing safety on dive ops. I know people who are used to dive operations that do everything but hold your hand on the dive who would crap their shorts going on any Palm Beach County boat. We haven't heard you say how Randy is dangerous ... just that he's apparently a menace in your opinion. Facts, people. We want facts before going completely ape-doody on someone's reputation.

i've known Randy for 15 years. I've earned the right to bash him in this thread for his shark feeding. But to bash him for anything else is unwarranted. Randy makes it very clear that his dive op is for "good" divers only. See the link.
PBMC Dive Alliance
As Halcyon alluded, Palm Beach ops do it a lot differently than you learned in open water. (I've never been asked to buddy up) Palm Beach ops run the gamut from the Scuba Club and their Sheparded AM dives to Randy's Emerald, which is most extreme. If you plan to dive in the Palm Beaches, do your due diligence. These forums are a great place to get information. You can pick up the phone before booking to learn the op's protocols. And as always, Google is your friend. Off topic.
I think we need to stay on the shark feed topic.

 

[scubastingray]

I like a lot of what FWC does, especially when it comes to poaching. This does smack of a publicity stunt to me.

My son and I happened upon a guy feeding marshmallows to gators at a local lake. He offered to let us toss a couple and much to my son's chagrin, I declined for the both of us, citing it was against the law. "Oh, I'm not feeding Gators. I'm feeding fish." was his reply. Then he went on about his interaction with a local FWC officer who had tried to cite him for feeding Gators. Feeding fish is legal in the State of Florida and intent is important to so many of our laws. Laws should be simplified so that they are understandable and consistent. That's not the case here. Laws should also be based on science and not emotions. That's also not the case here.

I guess those damn gators kept eating the marshmallows, so he had to keep trying to feed the fish!

 

[The Chairman]

I finally found a study: http://www.google.hn/url?sa=t&rct=j...esAdpt29xEG2rMQ&bvm=bv.65397613,d.cWc&cad=rja

Mostly inconclusive, but it does not reject shark feeding outright.